1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system and a method for distribution of picture objects. In particular, this invention relates to a system and a method for distribution of picture objects which are stored in a picture object database connected to a media center, picture object information being assigned in each case to the picture objects in the picture object database, the picture objects being transmitted from the media center over a communications network to one or more communications terminals connectible to this communications network, and the picture objects being made visible in each case to a user of the communications terminal by means of a display unit of the communications terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Methods and systems are known in which centrally stored picture objects provided with assigned object information are transmitted over a communications network to communications terminals and are made visible in each case to users of these communications terminals by means of a display unit of the communications terminal. In the following text, designated as picture objects will be data files comprising a picture content that is preferably established according to a suitable media and/or picture data standard and which is able to be made visible on a display unit to a user through suitable means, for example functions carried out through software or hardware, in particular decompression/compression and reproduction functions. The picture content of these picture objects concerns, for example, still pictures, e.g. digitalized photos, graphics and/or text. It can also concern, however, moving pictures, for instance video sequences. For example, such picture objects are transmitted by web servers over the Internet to communications terminals, such as, for instance, personal computers, and are made visible there to the respective user through a display device, e.g. a screen. In such known systems and methods, picture objects are at most transmitted to the communications terminal of the user in a way dependent upon how the user navigates through different pages available at the web server, i.e. which navigation commands and/or search commands and search parameters the user enters, without individual picture objects being selected by the web server in a user-specific way and being transmitted to the user.